What's the best points credit card?

[shutterslide]

What's people experience with frequent flyer credit cards in terms of which one is best for earning points.

A good website for comparing cards is Click4Credit.com.au who have many of the cards available and some have a points calculator.

The AMEX rewards maximiser sounds good as has no annual fee in first year and earns 1.5 points per $1 spent but then annual fee is higher in second year. Guess it's a trade off.

 

[NM]

It depends completely on your spending patterns. If you spend a lot with merchants that accept Amex, then the Amex Rewards Maximiser is a good choice. But if you only spend a small amount a year (say under $20,000) then the value of the points vs the cost of the card is unlikely to make it attractive to you.

And earning Qantas FF points without having some status in the FF program (generally at least Gold of Platinum status) may make using the points somewhat difficult, especially if you plan to use them for upgrades to business class, which is often considered the best value use of Qantas FF points. If you want to use the points for business or first class travel, then the QF FF program may not be the best place for your credit card points earning. Qantas rewards in business class cost double the number of points for econpmy travel, and first class is three times the econpmy rate. Compare this with other FF programs and you will find that Qantas redemptions rates for business and first class reward flights are very high.

So look for a program that provides flexibility in how the points are used. Points sent to Qantas cannot be transferred to other programs. Amex Membership Rewards does provide some flexibility with how you use the points, with transfers to many of the popular FF programs in the region.

 

[cove]

The calculator on how to maximise points on this sites home page is the best thing I have seen for ages.It is headed up "Are you a Frequent Flyer" on the left hand side.
The American Express folks at the airport had to go downstairs to search for their Ultimate application form as they sell everything but the best one it seems.
I already had the Altitude card from Westpac.
Now Clifford where should we go next...the recession has made front of plane seats so available.Thank you for this innovation on your site.